Looped
by PeppermintMochaFrap
Summary: Reincarnation Hospital AU. Petra Ral, a psychologist of New Trost Hospital, meets a patient who suffers from flashbacks of a time beyond their lifetime. Rivetra. WARNING: Possible character death.


Hi, guys! It's my first time writing for this fandom so I hope I do all right. xD  
**Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or Shingeki no Kyojin**

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The soldiers cut through the air, their green capes whipping behind them as the titan raced toward them. They had only one objective and that objective was to _kill. _This had been ingrained in their minds for in their training, further compacted with the loss of their comrades, and Gunther-_especially _Gunther-whose body now hung limp in the air, and what was left of his neck barely held his skull to the body.

Grief now turned to fury.

Erd was first in the approach. His blades were up, poised for attack. The titan reached but missed as the blond was yanked back by his grapple hook. Auruo and Petra now surged in and attacked the eyes, twisting their bodies in the air for maximum damage. And then they released. The titan stumbled back to one of the trees, now immobile, but no less dangerous. Erd gave the signal, and the three raced forward and to hack away at the arms.

Metal met flesh, breaking through the muscle. Sweat beaded over Petra's brow and she could feel the extra strain on her arms. It was slightly more difficult to hack away tough muscle than skin, but they managed. After several slashes, the titan loosened its hold on its nape before its arms dropped to the sides. Erd seized the opportunity to cut the neck.

Petra watched in horror as the titan's mouth snapped forward. Teeth clamped down on her friend's body in half, legs tearing away from the torso, and the rest falling to the ground when the titan spat it out.

Petra could only watch. Petra could only scream. Panic gripped her as she stumbled. Her mind tried to fathom the situation, tried to collect her thoughts for the next best choice of action, but she could only see Erd, that at one moment was whole and alive and well but was now broken and mangled and strewn across the forest floor like spit. Had she missed? Were her blades dull? Words stumbled out of her mouth as she tried to understand.

"Only one eye? It prioritized one eye to accelerate the healing... Is that even possible?"

Now all she could hear was that question, every syllable drumming into her skull. She could not breathe. It felt time had stopped for her when everything around was still in motion. The pounding on the ground sounded very much like her heartbeat.

She only registered Auruo's shouts when the titan gave the crushing blow.

**1**

Petra's eyes flashed open and she found herself staring into a dark space. She then registered the soft blanket that cocooned her body and the pillow over her head. Remnants of her dream were already slipping away into the recesses of her mind as soon as she regained the ability to breathe. Her heart could not stop pounding though.

"Oof!" She gasped when she felt a heavy weight on her.

"Good morning, my sweet, dear_, darling _Petra-dactyl!" Petra could hear her roommate _sing_ from outside her cocoon as she struggled to push her off. She couldn't. Hanji was practically lying on top of her. "I'm hungry."

"Hanjisaurus…" Petra whined. "You're heavy."

"No, Petra. I said I was _hungry,_" the woman giggled. "Let's go out and eat pancakes."

"But it's so _early_. And we have to be at the hospital by 7:30am."

"It's only 4am!"

Petra mumbled something incoherent. Like a grumble and letters randomly mashed together. Petra was a morning person, but that was only when the sun was out. How Hanji managed to keep awake at odd hours and still be so full of energy throughout the day was beyond her comprehension. Perhaps such quirks only existed in geniuses, Petra would reason out.

"_Please, _Petra? Pretty, pretty, beautiful, gorgeous please with a cherry on top? Do this for me please, peanut butter to my jam? Peas to my carrots? Romeo to my Mercutio? _The sodium to my chloride?_"

And after a moment, she sang, "I'm paying…"

Petra released a sigh. "Fine-"

"Yay!" Hanji cheered and squeezed Petra into a tight hug. She then released her friend and made a dash to her room to get dressed. Petra laughed softly to herself as she pushed away her blankets and pillows and got out of bed, dream already forgotten.

The pair walked her way down the streets of New Trost. The small city could be found near the edge of what remains of the monarchy's territory. Ever since the titans' fall, what was left of the human race ventured out to reclaim the world as theirs. Others stayed, satisfied with what they had and continued to serve the monarchy.

The city was similar to the other cities in the land. It had its own school, its own village, and even its own hospital. New Trost Hospital was just as plain as the rest of the New Trost, like a rectangle cardboard cut-out that was pasted over lushful greenery. Even if it basked under the glorious sun in a bright spring day, with the birds and the flowers, it would still look as uninteresting as any slab of concrete.

Despite this, it was home. Even if Petra and Hanji had their own apartment, they were mostly at the hospital managing the psychiatry ward together. Petra was the resident clinical psychologist, while Hanji was the mad neuropsychiatrist. Before that, they were university friends, working in the same coffee shop to pay off their tuition.

Petra stuffed her hands inside her pockets as she pulled her jacket closer to her. It was quiet, but this did not stop the two from their light banter.

"Hanj, look!" Petra nudged her friend and pointed to the sky.

"Ooh!" Hanji pushed her glasses up her nose, getting a better view. She then sighed in awe. "It's amazing how they continue to fascinate humanity for centuries. The number of stories, myths and philosophies borne from that fascination, passed on from generation to generation… Do you see those stars there? The Greeks would tell you of a story of a bear cast into the sky by a powerful god.

"And then, there was astrology, the study of the link between human events and the movement of heavenly bodies. Our personalities determined by the arrangement of the cosmos at the time of our birth."

"People did think our fates were mapped out by the stars," Petra said thoughtfully. "I mean, a guy did say that odd behavior was caused by the misalignment of the moon and stars."

Hanji laughed at that. "_Lunacy. _Well, that would make our jobs much easier. Or maybe not…"

Petra looked at Hanji curiously. "What do you think, Hanj? Do you think our births and deaths are determined by the stars? Or the universe?"

Hanji shrugged. "How the universe works? I don't know."

Petra glanced up at the sky for a moment. She then nudged at her friend.

"Well, if a genius like you doesn't know, nobody ever will," she teased.

The bell sounded as soon as they stepped inside, and Petra was assaulted by a mix of scents-bitter coffee, cooked pancakes and sweet syrup-which was comforting, in a way. _Titan's Diner_ was the only place open that morning that served any decent pancakes. Their servers were known to dress in beige jumpsuits, a lame replication of the nude monsters that rampaged the region centuries ago.

Hanji and Petra had settled in the booth at the farthest corner from the entrance. It was, according to Hanji, "the most ideal spot for people-watching." There weren't many people, but most of them were familiar faces as she had seen them at work. It was no surprise since the hospital was just right across from them.

"Two plates of pancakes and two cups of coffee please," Petra said without even asking for the menu.

"Two plates of pancakes and two cups of coffee coming right up," the waitress repeated tonelessly before trudging her way back to the counter. Hanji just grinned and clapped excitedly in her seat.

"A good meal to start a good day! By the gods, when was the last time since I've had a decent meal?" Hanji wondered aloud.

"It would depend on what you mean by a decent meal," Petra said with a laugh. "Instant doesn't count."

"Would you say pancakes count? I mean, it is mostly carbohydrates greased with lipids and sucrose. What about the protein? Oh, Petra, what about the bacon?"

Petra seriously considered the question, her finger on her chin. "I believe our only solution is to compensate by having bacon for lunch later."

"And dinner?"

"Mmm… We can have fruits and salad. Or better yet,fruit salad."

"You, my girl, are brilliant."

"Two pancakes and two coffees," the waitress announced and set down the two plates and coffee cups before leaving. Petra held her cup, letting it warm her fingers as she took in the rich aroma of the coffee. She drank it black first, enough to get her heart pumping, before she added some honey and milk.

Hanji squealed her appreciation and picked up her utensils, hacking up the pancakes into smaller pieces. It was amusing to watch, even if it was not the first time Hanji dragged Petra out for pancakes.

Petra turned her head and skimmed through the bottles at the side of their table.

"Uhh… which is better? _Humanity's Best Maple Syrup, _or _Berry Bloodbath Jam_?"

"Syrup, definitely," Hanji said. "Last time I tried the jam, it tasted more blood than berry."

Petra laughed and picked the bottle up and lathered it all over her pancakes.

"We have two interns coming in today," Petra reminded Hanji. "Mind if you handle them first? I have a patient arriving at 9:00am right after Mr. Olayman, and I don't know how long it will take."

"Shiganshina?"

Shiganshina City was part of the monarchy's territory, subject to sporadic attacks by separatist rebels for the past several months. This has pressured New Trost to donate their supplies and accept civilian patient transfers from the neighboring hospital. The Psych Ward had been receiving more patients because of this.

Petra shook her head. "A fifteen-year old boy from this city. His father plans to have him admitted."

Hanji swallowed as Petra took another sip from her coffee. "What was the reason for referral?"

"He says that his son has been highly aggressive lately. He has been getting into fights with the other kids at school. He thought that a trip with the guidance counselor would be fine until he got into a fight again and nearly killed one of them."

Hanji pouted. "A kid with a murderous streak and you're leaving me with two interns."

"I'm sure it was an accident. Besides, it's just for the morning," Petra reminded her with a sweet smile. "Hopefully, I'll be done by lunch, just in time for our bacon."

The bell by the door dinged when a customer came in. Hanji visibly perked up, causing Petra turn to see who it was. She flinched when Hanji got up and called out, her voice booming across the diner.

"Yo, Levi!"

The diner fell silent for the briefest moment before it gave way to the usual hubbub. Her eyes fell on the figure which paused after entering, door swinging shut behind him. It was a man in scrubs and a pristine white labcoat over his tensed shoulders. He turned and Petra saw his eyes. They were an indistinguishable dark color.

Petra knew him. He was Hanji's friend from medical school who was now a surgeon at New Trost. She would sometimes see him and Hanji talking in hallways.

The man sighed before making his way to their booth.

"What the fuck, Psycho?" he asked before stopping to stand beside Petra's bench. He leaned against her backrest as his arms crossed over his chest.

"Nothing, I just missed you," Hanji giggled before gesturing over to her roommate. "Remember Petra? She works at the Psych Ward with me."

He glanced down and acknowledged Petra with a nod. "Psycho number two."

She had never seen him up close until now. She did not miss the dark rings around his eyes, and the lines on his forehead. She was also surprised to find his eyes were a deep grey.

"Surgery again?"

Levi nodded. "Patient had a big-ass tumor in his stomach. Took me eight hours to hack it off in the O.R., so I'm here for dinner."

"Why don't you join us?" Hanji asked. "You can have your dinner while we have our breakfast."

Levi shook his head. "Only here for take-out. Erwin wants a report on the fat-ass I operated on. Apparently, he's some hotshot at the Capital."

"Aww, not even for a few minutes?"

"Erwin said it's urgent."

Hanji pouted. "You always do what Erwin says. You never do anything for yourself."

Levi seemed to have smiled unless Petra was imagining things. She could not deny the twinkle in his eyes when he reached out to ruffle Hanji's hair. "See you around, Psycho."

He glanced at her again. Grey on copper. "It's nice meeting you too, Petra."

Petra smiled in return and he left. She watched him as he moved to the counter, casually leaning against it with his wallet in hand. She used to think she had seen him before, but she assumed she had his face mixed up with someone else in the past. She had thought the same when she first met Hanji, only to find out that they never met before. Funny how the mind works.

"Hey, Petradactyl."

Petra turned to Hanji, catching her friend's smile. "Yes, Hanjisaurus?"

"Let's watch the sunrise together?"

Petra laughed and nodded. "Okay."

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**Thank you for reading! Review when you can. :)**


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